Ticklish
by nineteennintytwo
Summary: Oneshot. Arabella lets it slip to Jack that she's ticklish, and he takes advantage of this. Piratess-Bell's March challenge. OLD STORY.


Here's a little one-shot about Arabella being ticklish, and Jack taking advantage of this. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Jack Sparrow novels belong to Mr Rob Kidd. If I owned them, then this scene would have _definitely_ been in them!

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Ticklish

If there was one thing Arabella knew she had to keep from Jack, it was the fact that she was ticklish. Incredibly ticklish. Whenever her mother and father used to tickle her back home, she would break out into a huge fit of giggles, and would try with all her might to wriggle out of their grasps. But she enjoyed herself, nonetheless. It was only after her mother was taken by Louis that this little thing stopped. Her father began to drink too much, and there was no one around to give Arabella the little treatment she both despised and loved. She did miss it a little, but not enough to get Jack to do it to her. The two of them were close, but not _that_ close.

The _Barnacle_ had stopped in a small port, and most of the crew had gone ashore for the night, choosing to stay in one of the local taverns instead of on the cramped little boat which Jack claimed was a ship. Jack, of course, was reluctant to leave his little boat, and Arabella didn't want to have the experience of sleeping in a tavern after practically living her whole life in one. Fitzwilliam would have none of this, though.

"Arabella, I must insist that you come ashore with me, Jean and Tumen," he tried to persuade her. "I cannot bare to leave you behind on this barely sea-worthy boat with someone like Jack."

"Fitz, stop worrying yer aristocratic but off," Arabella told him, and Jack snickered at this statement in the background. "I think I can handle myself. I don't want to have to sleep in another tavern again; and Jack knows that if he tries anything, he'll regret it. And besides, he's not the worst person in the world to get stuck with."

"Exactly, so hop it, Fitzy!" Jack urged him, ushering him away with a wave of his hand.

Jean and Tumen went without a word, but Fitzwilliam stayed put for just a bit longer. It was Arabella's glare which eventually got him to leave; the fact that he was slightly scared of her made it clear that the two of them would never make a good couple.

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Later that night, Arabella came out on deck deep in thought, having had a strange dream which had really left her puzzled. Jack had awoken at the movement of her hammock, so had gotten out of his own to see what was up. When he noticed the distant look on Arabella's face once he was out on deck, he decided to see what was up.

"What's so fascinating up there, might I ask?" he began, not wanting to make it look like he cared.

Arabella just turned and sent him a glare, before returning to her position of looking up at the stars.

"Nothing," she answered him. "Just had a weird dream, that's all?"

"Do tell, dearie," he prompted her. "First mates can't keep things from their Captains."

In usual circumstances, Arabella would have turned and bitten his head off with snappy words and sarcastic remarks. But this time, she couldn't find a good enough reason to do it. And maybe he'd know what the dream meant.

"Well, it was about my mother," she began. "She was a Pirate Captain of her own ship, with a crew and everything. The sails could even turn invisible, and she had a magic compass which would help her find the ship if she ever left it. The dream felt so real, which is confusing. My mum's dead."

"Unless she could be _not_ dead, and everything you dreamed is real?" Jack guessed.

"Jack, don't try and make me feel better," Arabella said. "I feel miserable enough as it is, without you giving me false hope that me mum could be still alive out there."

"Sorry, I was just giving you my professional opinion," Jack stated, raising his hands in surrender.

"Since when has your opinion been professional?" Arabella questioned.

"Since I became Captain of this fine vessel," Jack answered, gesturing round to the _Barnacle_.

Arabella just shook her head, before lowering her gaze to look at her hands.

"I just miss her so much," she muttered. "All the times when she used to comfort me, and hug me, and tickle me..."

"You're ticklish?" Jack questioned with a hint of playfulness in his voice, raising his eyebrow at the same time.

Arabella's eyes widened, which confirmed what Jack had already guessed. His face turned into a look of pure evil, and seeing what he was about to do, Arabella began to back away.

"Jack, don't ye dare-"

She ran, and he ran after her. He chased her around the deck of the _Barnacle_ for the next five minutes, with her shouting at him to stop and him shouting at her to slow down. But he did catch her in the end. And when he did, he showed no mercy in tickling her.

"Jack- stop! Stop!" Arabella piratically begged, but she couldn't stop the giggling fit she normally had from erupting out of her mouth.

Jack laughed along with her, and soon, both were rolling on the floor with a bad case of the giggles. And for the first time since her mother was taken from her, Arabella felt happy again.

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